X Men: Light and Shadow
by LarsaHyena92
Summary: When an old friend returns to the home of the X Men, the sparks are flying, both good and bad. But will these sparks kindle a new flame among the teachers of the Xavier Institute?
1. Prologue

All characters belong to Marvel

The sun was just beginning to rise over Salem, New York. A deep red shone in the windows of the expensive houses that lined the road. No one was awake just yet. The wealthy inhabitants still fast asleep, dreaming and forgetting their own problems. Every now and then a gust of wind would blow a pile of fallen leaves across the street. It was nearly September. The air was silent, no sounds but the twittering of birds in the air. Soon the silence was broken by the rev of a cab coming up the street. It turned sharply to the left of the road, now climbing up a long driveway lined with silver birch trees.

The inhabitants of the taxi were two very different people, the driver and his sleeping passenger. There was nothing particularly interesting about this. Or at least, you would think so if you did not see the passenger. He was a young man, no older than 25. He lay back in the seat of the cab, his head lopped to one side facing the window. He was thin, with long, jet-black hair, yet streaked with silver starting at both temples and finishing at the tips of the ponytail he had tied his hair back in. One suitcase rested on the seat next to him, in the back of the cab was his other suitcase and a small chest filled with books. He liked to read. Slowly he stirred and woke up, removing the amber shades he had been wearing to rub the sleep from his eyes.

He looked up and caught his reflection in the overhead mirror of the car. A pair of bright blue eyes shone back at him in the reflection. He smiled and straightened himself in his seat, before leaning forward towards the driver. "How much further is it?" he asked.

"Not far." said the driver, putting out a cigarette he had been previously smoking, "But I ain't sure what you would be doin' in a place like that."

"Funny you should ask." said the passenger, leaning back in his seat. "I was a student there, and now I'm returning to work full time as a teacher."

"Oh!" said the cab driver, smirking at the passenger through the overhead mirror, "You're one of them, are ya?"

"Yes I am," replied the passenger, reclining in his seat, "Is that a problem?"

"Nah, not at all." replied the driver, "Just I don't get many customers who are, that's all. Well, here we are."

The passenger leaned out of the window. He saw a large mansion before him, with great stained glass windows, large oak front doors, and lined all around with hedgerows. A large brass plague hung above the door in pride of place. Upon it were written in gilded letters the words "Xavier's Institute of Highly Learning for Gifted Youngsters." It had been years since the passenger had ever stepped into this place, not since he left for college, but now he was back, and it felt like home to him after all these years. He got out the cab, looking over every part of the house that felt familiar to him. He notice the balcony above the doors with large French windows. The Professor's office. That's where he had met him years ago. He had been fourteen at the time, living in Quebec. Not long after, a man named Charles Xavier entered his life and he learned just how powerful being a mutant can be. He thought back to that day he learned of his power from Xavier.

"_How come we don't use our powers to become stronger than humans? With powers like ours, we could stop people treating us like dirt."_

"_Because that is not how things are, my lad. We want humans to accept us, not fear us. Fear and acceptance are two very different things, and we must strive to obtain that which we need most of all."_

"_What makes you think there aren't mutants who do think like that though? That fear is the key to ending all this hate?"_

"_But I do. I know many mutants who seek to control or even destroy the human race. My best friend, Eric, is one of those people."_

"_You're joking!"_

"_I'm not. Eric Lehnsherr was my close friend. We founded this institute together. However, things took a turn for the worst. Our opposing ideals on how mutants should live in our society tore us apart. The school was split in two, and Eric led a new brotherhood of mutants against the human race as the mutant terrorist known as Magneto."_

"_I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't…"_

"_That's all right, lad. How could you have known? Now rest. You've had a long journey, and tomorrow you start learning what it truly means to be a mutant."_

What it truly means to be a mutant. Those words had stuck with him all his life and he never forgot them. He paid for the cab ride and dragged his luggage up to the door. He rang on the doorbell next to an intercom on the right doorpost. After about twenty minutes of ringing, the intercom was answered. "Hello, can I help you?" came a little girl's voice from the other side of the intercom. "Hello my dear." said the man. "Could you kindly wake the Professor and tell him that Jean-Paul Beaubier is here?"


	2. Chapter 1

Hank McCoy was woken by someone nudging him out of bed. He turned to one side and opened his eye ever to slightly in order to look at his clock. It was about six in the morning. He turned back to the side he had been resting on only to be nudged again. "Wake up, Hank!" said a voice in his ear, "Wake up!"

"Ororo," mumbled Hank, stirring uncomfortably in his bed, "It is six o'clock in the morning, I was working 'til eleven last night making sure that Cerebro was functioning properly and it is a Saturday. Were it Monday I would understand more, but it is the weekend and I need some sleep."

"But Hank, haven't you heard?" Said Ororo making tracks towards the door, "Northstar is back!"

What!" yelled Hank, leaping out of bed.

"Yep," replied Ororo, "So get dressed. Charles wants to see us in his office in ten minutes."

"All right," said Hank, rubbing sleep from his eyes, "Can you please allow me to get properly attired in peace, Ororo?" Ororo smiled and closed the door behind her.

Hank trundled over to the mirror in his bathroom and gazed at his reflection as he washed himself. A blue-furred, leonine face stared back at him with great amber eyes. Hank bared his teeth in the mirror, grinning slightly at the row of perfect white teeth that stared back. With those extra long canines you can't help being a little bit beastly thought Hank to himself. He was only just starting to get used to the beastly look. It felt comfortable to him now after all this time. He slipped on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans from his chair and headed down to Xavier's office.

By the time he got there, a crowd had already gathered. Scott Summers, tall and lean with red tinted sunglasses stood by a window, his wife, delicate, red-headed Jean stood next to him, Emma Frost, busty and blonde was reclining in an armchair next to Ororo, dark skinned with flashing eyes, Logan, muscular and brawny was leaning against the bookcase, Remy, lanky with a great deal of stubble, sat on the desk talking to the behemoth form of Piotr with his slick black hair, Charles Xavier, clam yet commanding, sat behind the desk in his wheelchair, and standing next to him by the window was…

"Jean-Paul!" Cried Hank, pulling Jean-Paul into a welcoming hug, "How are you, friend? You look so well."

"As do you." Laughed Jean-Paul, pulling out of the hug to get a good look at Hank. "You're looking very healthy, Hank. You've been working out, I can tell." He laughed as Hank's cheeks turned a deep purple with blushing. "Well Jean-Paul," said Charles, placing a hand on Jean-Paul's shoulder, "We're all very glad to have you on board."

"Oh yes," said Emma, leaning forward in he armchair to face Jean-Paul and the Professor, "We are all pleased that we have another of Xavier's beloved students ready to pass his knowledge of mutants to others who were once just like himself."

"Ah yes." said Xavier, clearly getting the message she was sending, "Jean Paul, this is another of the teachers who joined us shortly after you left. This is-"

"Emma Frost." Said Emma standing up and holding out her hand for Jean-Paul to kiss. "The pleasure is all mine."

"Oh yeah," muttered Logan under his breath to Scott, "Like you don't expect him to be the one sayin' that to you." Logan and Scott sniggered slightly under their breath. Their hatred towards Emma was one of the few things that they agreed on, particularly the way she had treated both Scott and then his wife Jean when she returned to the institute. "Pleasure to meet you Miss Frost." replied Jean-Paul. "I look forward to working with you."

"Well now," Said the Professor, "I think that you should be aware of the curriculum plans, Jean-Paul. The teaching plans are like this. Emma Frost is our current acting Head of School, Scott teaches Mathematics, Jean's in charge of English, Piotr handles Art, Remy does Languages, Ororo is in charge of History, Hank has the Sciences covered, and Logan is the Gym teacher. We also have your old friends and classmates, Mr Drake, Mr Wagner, Miss Pryde and Miss Marie who work down in the sub-basement, but they wont be back until the start of the term. You, however, have a very important task as a teacher. Normally I would have given this to one of my more veteran students like Scott or Hank, but you understand this field and the practices we teach at this school better than any other."

"Why?" Asked Jean Paul. "What exactly will I be teaching at the institute?"

"The lesson I originally would teach." replied the Professor. "Mutant Ethics."

Jean-Paul needed no further explanation. He was stunned. Mutant Ethics was a lesson the Professor taught personally to the students when he was a kid. It involved showing the students the power they possessed and how best to use and control it. It was possibly the biggest responsibility that any teacher could be given at the Xavier Institute, and Charles expected him to do it? "Professor," said Jean-Paul, kneeling down so he and Charles were at eye level, "I don't think I'm up to the task that you have asked me to do."

The Professor wheeled himself over to the window. "Jean-Paul," said the Professor, "When you came to us over ten years ago, you were bright and eager and quick to learn. The very pinnacle and reflection of your own powers. You were determined to learn more about mutants, no matter how much work or effort it took. You were also very mature for your age, in some senses. You understood better than any other person in this institute the message we were trying to present to the humans race, even more so than most of the teachers. The school celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this year, and in all that time, you have been most loyal to that message of peace and love between all peoples, human and mutant. More so than Scott or Jean or Ororo, and any one of them will admit it. That is why I chose you to be a teacher, that's why I asked you to take on this job. Because you are, without a shadow of a doubt, the best person to do this."

Jean-Paul looked around at the smiling faces in the room. They really have such great faith in me, he thought to himself, they truly do believe I can do this. He pulled himself up on the floor and turned to look at the Professor. "Well, Professor," he said, "If you really think I'm up for the task…then I'll do my best."

"Excellent!" replied the Professor, clapping Jean-Paul on the back, "Your first lesson is a week on Monday, the students return in less than a week to get settled in, and Jean-Paul-" he smiled as Jean-Paul nodded in response. "- Call me Charles from now on."

Jean-Paul made his way to his new room, escorted there by Emma. He began to think about what Charles had said to him. Maybe he was the right person for the job; he certainly didn't want to disappoint the Professor. They turned a corner at the end of the corridor and Emma led him through one of the doors. The room he had been given was fairly large. A bookshelf stood in one corner next to a large oak desk. The large window to the right of the door gazed out upon the large, ornate gardens at the front of the mansion. "This is your room," said Emma in a slightly drawling voice. "All the things you may need, shampoo, soap, shaving equipment and all that, is in the bathroom. Breakfast is at nine tomorrow. I hope to see you there."

"Thank you for the warm welcome, Miss Frost." replied Jean-Paul, sitting down on the bed, "And again, I look forward to working with you." Emma paused, she turned to face Jean-Paul, a small smile creeping into the corners of her mouth. "I'm glad to be working with you, too." said Emma, her voice dripping with honey-coated sweetness. She turned the lock on the door and began to walk forward towards Jean-Paul. "Perhaps," she whispered, kneeling down in front of Jean-Paul, "we should work very profoundly together right now." She leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek. Jean-Paul leaned out of her way. "I'm sorry," Jean-Paul said, "but you're barking up the wrong tree, if you understand my meaning."

"Oh come now," pouted Emma, placing her hands on his lap and slowly massaging his thighs with her smooth palms, "surely you and I wish to stay friendly while you are here." She leaned forward again, but Jean-Paul did not lean away in time. She began to kiss his neck with her smooth lips, her hands massaging deeper into his legs. She ran her hands up his legs slowly, until she was almost at his crotch. "I said NO!" yelled Jean-Paul, pushing Emma off onto the floor. She no longer looked sweet and tender towards Jean-Paul. On the contrary, she eyes were full of loathing.

"You know what?" said Emma, standing up and straightening her clothes, "I tried being nice. I tried to give you the best start you could have here as a staff member, but fine. Be that way. Just remember this. That class you're teaching was mine, Beaubier. It belongs to me. I control what these students learn about their powers, not one of Xavier's little lap dogs. I hope you enjoy your time here. Oh yes I do." she marched over to the door, "But just remember; stick to my lesson plans, don't follow everything Xavier teaches, and stay out of my spotlight…Faggot." She slammed the door behind her. It took Jean-Paul to figure out exactly what had just happened. Two things were clear to him now. Firstly, Emma Frost was not someone to be trusted. And secondly, she was not someone who you should not cross. Clearly things looked as though they may take a turn for the worst, and how would Emma's influence effect the way students thought of him? But Jean-Paul was not one to be easily scared. He dumped his bag on the desk, smiling to himself as he said, "Just let the little bitch try her best."


End file.
